historical Somali community in Oman

[wonyluvr]

Notice how he weeps for his people yet completely ignores the horrific crimes they've committed in kenya and Tanzania?

THANK YOU

 

[Rocktheboat]

Somalis have been scattered across the Arabian peninsula since the 9th century. The man in my profile picture is the attorney general of Yemen and his great grandfather was a HA merchant from berbera who settled in Aden

Why use him as a display picture?

 

[Saleh]

Why use him as a display picture?

Wa landheere. Isaaq influence worldwide

 

[Idilinaa]

Shared a study a year ago that might be relevant here, although it focuses more on Yemen:

It outlined how cross-border trade in the 1800s was divided into two main sea corridors the Berbera–Aden corridor, which likely extended further north to Jeddah, and the Bosaso–Mukalla corridor, which connected onward to Oman.

This trade pattern is actually reflected in the demographics of Somali diasporic communities: you'll notice Harti communities are more present in southern Arabia, while Isaaq and Dir are more concentrated in the northern parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

https://asiafoundation.org/2019/08/12/rvi-somalia-and-yemens-cross-border-maritime-economy/

The Harti, which includes the Warsangeli and the Mijerteen (Ismaan Mahmoud), also have a strong maritime identity and dispersed diaspora presence, including longstanding communities in Yemen.5

A local Sultan in Bosasso, in present-day Puntland, describes the Somali–Yemen relation-
ship in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century:

The countries were not as separated as they are now. People moved freely and
everyone settled wherever they wanted. Hadramawt is close to Somalia physically
and culturally … The Hadramis were coming to Somalia for centuries. They are
mainly merchants. They were running away from poverty in Hadramawt … We
were always mixing and intermingling. We received each other as guests and
fed each other. We travelled in each other’s territory without restriction.

For much of their history, the regions encompassed by present-day north-eastern Somalia
(Puntland), Somaliland and (southern) Yemen have been, in many respects, extensions
of each other. They shared a religious and cultural identity that was mutually influenced
through social and economic interactions, easing and enabling interactions even to this
day. For many Somali-speakers these ties were more significant, and welcoming, than
those held with the states and communities of the modern borderlands with Ethiopia
and Kenya. These ties were further strengthened through the incorporation into the
British (Indian Ocean) Empire in the late nineteenth century.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

They project what the Portuguese had done to them onto us

Muscat and the Portuguese: economic and political dynamics in the e...

Introduction As highlighted by P. Beaujard, at the turn of the 16th century, “due to the monsoons and their strategic position, the areas at the intersection of two seas enjoyed a privileged positi...

journals.openedition.org

"24By the end of April 1522, D. Luís, who had left in February of the same year the Indian port of Chaul with a flotilla of eight ships, anchored in Muscat, and would remain there until May 1522. His “Book of Preys” (Livro das Presas)89, remains essential to assess his raiding practices along the Omani coast. In fact, instead of proceeding directly from India to Hormuz – as ordered by his brother – he preferred to make a detour and went to loot the Omani seafront towns, starting with Suhar90, where he reduced many inhabitants to slavery. His raids also touched the Râs al-Hadd area and Masîra island91. The “Book of Preys” casts new light on the Portuguese engagement in a peculiar economy of predation and slavery, merging raiding (on land and sea) and almost consecutive sale of the booty (including slaves), entangled with regular mercantile operations92. Like a bulk of other related documents"

This guy called Nasr al busaidi, an Omani historian and journalist says in the video below: "Sometimes when I read Portuguese historical documents, I cry from frustration/ defeat, the amount of crimes they(the Portuguese) have committed against Omanis is not normal".



Notice how he weeps for his people yet completely ignores the horrific crimes they've committed in kenya and Tanzania?

We really were at the top and fell into the pits of hell

We had complex civilizations with diverse rich economies, renowned worldwide and powerful states and armies, so much so that the Portuguese recognized it wise to seek peace and not go straight to looting like they did for most of other places

Oman at that time wasnt even a centralised state, it was just Arab nomads each region ruled by its tribe with a single coastal city.

By the 19th century we were basically like 16th century Oman but worse. No centralized states anymore, just nomads competing with each others for resources and grazing lands, crumbling coastal cities, we fell so low Somali tribal leaders literally sold the country to the highest bider (uk, italy, zanzibar, khedive) to get protection against the neighboring clan, in the form of protectorate treaties that eventually turned to straight up gumeysii.

History did not do us any favors, and best believe our situation today is because these dumb nomads and their poor choices

 

[Bille]

We really were at the top and fell into the pits of hell

We had complex civilizations with diverse rich economies, renowned worldwide and powerful states and armies, so much so that the Portuguese recognized it wise to seek peace and not go straight to looting like they did for most of other places

Oman at that time wasnt even a centralised state, it was just Arab nomads each region ruled by its tribe with a single coastal city.

By the 19th century we were basically like 16th century Oman but worse. No centralized states anymore, just nomads competing with each others for resources and grazing lands, crumbling coastal cities, we fell so low Somali tribal leaders literally sold the country to the highest bider (uk, italy, zanzibar, khedive) to get protection against the neighboring clan, in the form of protectorate treaties that eventually turned to straight up gumeysii.

History did not do us any favors, and best believe our situation today is because these dumb nomads and their poor choices

The day that our leaders stop expecting food and protection from other countries, that is the day that we'll start making progress.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

The day that our leaders stop expecting food and protection from other countries, that is the day that we'll start making progress.

Abandoning the Islamic way was the biggest mistake imo No one likes FGS and its literally on life support thanks to foreign investment

Another Islamic government is what we need like ICU

 

[Idilinaa]

We really were at the top and fell into the pits of hell

We had complex civilizations with diverse rich economies, renowned worldwide and powerful states and armies, so much so that the Portuguese recognized it wise to seek peace and not go straight to looting like they did for most of other places

Oman at that time wasnt even a centralised state, it was just Arab nomads each region ruled by its tribe with a single coastal city.

By the 19th century we were basically like 16th century Oman but worse. No centralized states anymore, just nomads competing with each others for resources and grazing lands, crumbling coastal cities, we fell so low Somali tribal leaders literally sold the country to the highest bider (uk, italy, zanzibar, khedive) to get protection against the neighboring clan, in the form of protectorate treaties that eventually turned to straight up gumeysii.

History did not do us any favors, and best believe our situation today is because these dumb nomads and their poor choices

I think the reason the Portuguese never managed to permanently occupy and pillage Somalia the way they did in Oman or along the Swahili coast has more to do with the broad political unity Somalis had at the time.


Even Mogadishu maintained unity with the interior, which gave it the strength to resist European incursions , something that wasn’t the case on the Swahili coast. Remember that quote from the early 1700s in the text you shared with me?


''The prince having succeeded in maintaining his independence and repelled all European intercourse, allows the country to be very little known"

Compare that with what happened in the 1800s: Zanzibaris exploited divisions among southern coastal groups like playing the Geledi off others to establish control. They couldn’t do that with the Majerteen, who were more centralized and unified in their interests.

Another quote confirms this:
"The solidarity of interests exist between the tribes of the interior and the coast. Said attempts to establish himself there by force would have here, one understands, much less success than among the populations of the Suahhel(Swahili), whose rivalvries have more than his weapons , obtained his submission

They even rejected Omani requests to build a fort on Hafun.

And while the Zanzibaris did manage to set up forts in the south, their influence remained limited. That’s because the southern coast was still connected to and dependent on the interior. When they tried to go further, Somalis imposed economic sanctions from the hinterland. Contrast that with the Swahili coast, which got totally overrun and absorbed due to acting as disconnected enclaves.

As for the broader historical decline post-medieval period, it wasn’t due to “dumb nomads” or some curse of history. The decline had material causes: the Oromo migrations disrupted inland trade routes, and Portuguese and European interference caused maritime instability that weakened the coastal economy.

Arabs, Habesha and Somalis all depended on the trade and agricultural production that came out of the Northwest and South Central Somalia to sustain themselves with. So the commerce was always carefully guarded, if you noticed in the general regional history there would be conflicts and disputes and even war but the political and economic systems always remained intact because people always worked for its continuity. Heck even the Chinese and Indians benefited from the trade , so they always approached it with peacefully diplomacy

Oromo's and Europeans were both outsiders who were alien to this regional system, so they saw no problem with cutting into it and cause a lot of disturbance and destruction.

Up until that point there was no major external threat, threatening the economic systems in the region so they were caught off guard by it and not prepared for what came.

By the 19th century, it had reached this point:

''For a century back, their power has been greatly reduced , and they are now divided into a number of smaller separate states''

So no ,it’s not about history not favoring us or some fatal flaw in nomadic life. This is what collapse and fragmentation look like. It’s happened everywhere. When the Roman Empire fell, Western Europe fractured into feudal states. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it fragmented into multiple countries and experienced economic decline.

Medieval Somali civilization followed a similar pattern. There’s no need to pathologize it.

Also worth noting: Oman’s rise is directly tied to Portuguese occupation. While Somali trade was being blocked and disrupted, Muscat was learning from and trading under Portuguese domination and protection. They gained from that exposure.

Meanwhile, our ancestors paid the price for independence. Their resistance came at the cost of shrinking trade networks and diminished urban wealth. But that doesn’t mean they failed, it means they chose autonomy over submission.

 

[Midas]

I think the reason the Portuguese never managed to permanently occupy and pillage Somalia the way they did in Oman or along the Swahili coast has more to do with the broad political unity Somalis had at the time.


Even Mogadishu maintained unity with the interior, which gave it the strength to resist European incursions , something that wasn’t the case on the Swahili coast. Remember that quote from the early 1700s in the text you shared with me?


''The prince having succeeded in maintaining his independence and repelled all European intercourse, allows the country to be very little known"
View attachment 365700

Compare that with what happened in the 1800s: Zanzibaris exploited divisions among southern coastal groups like playing the Geledi off others to establish control. They couldn’t do that with the Majerteen, who were more centralized and unified in their interests.

Another quote confirms this:
"The solidarity of interests exist between the tribes of the interior and the coast. Said attempts to establish himself there by force would have here, one understands, much less success than among the populations of the Suahhel(Swahili), whose rivalvries have more than his weapons , obtained his submission
View attachment 365681
View attachment 365682

They even rejected Omani requests to build a fort on Hafun.
View attachment 365695

And while the Zanzibaris did manage to set up forts in the south, their influence remained limited. That’s because the southern coast was still connected to and dependent on the interior. When they tried to go further, Somalis imposed economic sanctions from the hinterland. Contrast that with the Swahili coast, which got totally overrun and absorbed due to acting as disconnected enclaves.
View attachment 365683


As for the broader historical decline post-medieval period, it wasn’t due to “dumb nomads” or some curse of history. The decline had material causes: the Oromo migrations disrupted inland trade routes, and Portuguese and European interference caused maritime instability that weakened the coastal economy.


By the 19th century, it had reached this point:

''For a century back, their power has been greatly reduced , and they are now divided into a number of smaller separate states''

View attachment 365680

So no ,it’s not about history not favoring us or some fatal flaw in nomadic life. This is what collapse and fragmentation look like. It’s happened everywhere. When the Roman Empire fell, Western Europe fractured into feudal states. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it fragmented into multiple countries and experienced economic decline.

Medieval Somali civilization followed a similar pattern. There’s no need to pathologize it.

Also worth noting: Oman’s rise is directly tied to Portuguese occupation. While Somali trade was being blocked and disrupted, Muscat was learning from and trading under Portuguese domination and protection. They gained from that exposure.

Meanwhile, our ancestors paid the price for independence. Their resistance came at the cost of shrinking trade networks and diminished urban wealth. But that doesn’t mean they failed, it means they chose autonomy over submission.

We shouldn't forget the climatic factors as well. Starting from the 1600s Somalia began to experience a much drier climate reducing our ability to have large towns and cities since water became more scarce and our ability to grow food became smaller.

This was a common phenomenon historically. Look at how much bigger a pouplation roman northern Africa had compared to the Islamic period. Or the khmer Empire which built Angora wat and then collapsed and was sacked in the 1400s and basically had a multiple centuries long dark age.

 

[Idilinaa]

We shouldn't forget the climatic factors as well. Starting from the 1600s Somalia began to experience a much drier climate reducing our ability to have large towns and cities since water became more scarce and our ability to grow food became smaller.

This was a common phenomenon historically. Look at how much bigger a pouplation roman northern Africa had compared to the Islamic period. Or the khmer Empire which built Angora wat and then collapsed and was sacked in the 1400s and basically had a multiple centuries long dark age.

I'm pretty sure environmental shocks did play a role. For example, the volcanic eruption that destroyed the city of Awsa left it in a severely weakened state. I also can’t help but notice how older descriptions of Zayla portray it almost like a promontory similar to Hafun while Berbera is described as an island. That suggests some significant environmental or geological changes must have taken place over time.

There’s evidence that more rivers once existed in the northwestern interior as well. So it’s possible that poor land management or overgrazing led to environmental degradation.

It’s also worth remembering that trade reduces the dependency on local food production.

When a region is well integrated into long distance trade networks, it can import food and supplies from more productive areas. In the Roman Empire, for instance, they regularly transported agricultural surplus from highly fertile regions like Egypt or North Africa to less productive provinces. That might be why North Africa could support a much larger population under Roman rule.

So yes, while climate change was a factor, it likely combined with other elements like trade disruption, environmental mismanagement, and political fragmentation.